Some folks never learn.

3 years ago my neighbor had a chimney/ house fire, we came home and a little while later I kept hearing a truck or something running, 10 minutes later I go down cellar to check my woodstove, look out the window and see a truck parked in my wood lot, were I also park 2 of my trucks for the winter, now I'm wondering what the hell is going on, I go out to see and nobody's around, I look down the road 200 feet and there are all kinds of fire trucks, ect. Well a guy was standing by the other side of the road and I look down at my neighbors house and saw it was on fire, lots of water damage ect. I guess he had another chimney fire this past New Year's Eve. Problem is he put in too big of a wood stove, dampers it down, dosent clean his chimney enough, and burns green wood! Iv seem this liquid creosote dripping out of the stove pipes! We've tried to tell him but he don't listen, he's thing is go big or go home. Well he was lucky this time, he has a metal chimney pipe going up threw the house, the first one was a zero clearance, once it got hot enough it started the structure on fire, as my other neighbor said a masonry chimney will take a fire better than these pipe ones. Oh well, at least no one was hurt, but I can't believe he proudly gloats about burning green wood, I hope the next time it dosent turn into a tragedy. So just remember to sweep you chimney too.

I'm sure his insurance company will cancel him,or make him take the wood stove out.

Yep, he shouldn't have a wood stove if he don't want to be smart about using it.

Our neighbors cut a bunch of evergreen wood of some kind and burned it I their furnace green. I don't know what kind of evergreens they were but they were plenty sappy. One night I saw the fire trucks at their place so I went up there and their chimney looked like a roman candle, shooting sparks and fire balls into the night sky. The firemen had a heck of a time getting it calmed down, but they did get it out before there was damage to the house. I'm sure there was damage to the mortar the way it was roaring. They didn't burn wood after that and just relied on the furnace. Jim

Yup been there many years ago at my folks place. It sounded like a da--mn jet engine going!! Closed the damper after throwing in one of those fire out things that looks like a road flare. CO2 extinguisur or a real big ABC? A guy at the flea market shows up two or three times a year with out of code commercial units. He sells them for $5 up to $15 each .I bought about 20 of them and gave to sister friends neighbour etc. I have one ABC that stands the same size as those old acid soda brass ones. Heavy bugger! Jeffcat

Never burn birch,popular. evergreen. Use a meetal lid to cover the top of the flue . Deprive the fire from oxygen . Keep the chimney clean. We use a product called creasoat destroyer to stop bild up and turns the creasoat to a white ash. Works for us.
LOU

Apparently burning a wood stove needs to be added to cultivating and using a sickle bar mower as lost arts these days.All three seem simple enough until one actually does it.

Burn whatever wood you have. Just clean it every day with a "friendly" chimney fire.

We burn birch popular evergreen. Works fine if you dry it first like any firewood. Went up to brush our chimney the other day and its still as clean as when I brushed it last year. Wood is our primary heat.

Our first year we had to burn some green slab wood, had 2 chimney fires even with frequent cleaning.

(quoted from post at 00:47:23 01/12/14) Never burn birch,popular. evergreen. Use a meetal lid to cover the top of the flue . Deprive the fire from oxygen . Keep the chimney clean. We use a product called creasoat destroyer to stop bild up and turns the creasoat to a white ash. Works for us.
LOU

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Lou,I burn birch and poplar,seasoned,without a problem and know plenty of folks who do the same.Pine seasoned and split small is the best kindling of all.What sort of a problem are you haveing with birch and poplar?

(quoted from post at 07:09:48 01/12/14)
Burn whatever wood you have. Just clean it every day with a "friendly" chimney fire.

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That's the way I see it.Course the wood snobs scoff at just about anything that isn't oak!

(quoted from post at 07:09:48 01/12/14)
Burn whatever wood you have. Just clean it every day with a "friendly" chimney fire.

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That's the way I see it.Course the wood snobs scoff at just about anything that isn't oak!

I burn a lot of poplar but it is always good and dry. Birch too but not as much. I don't have evergreens to burn. No problems with chimney fires.

I don't bother with Poplar but if you season it well,it burns nicely; just that it's very light and doesn't produce much heat.
When you speak of Birch there are several varieties.
I sometimes burn white birch that is seasoned well. Not a lot of heat in that either but my wife likes to have some on the hearth during the holidays. She calls it "that pretty wood".
The bark is real good for getting a fire started.
On the other hand, yellow birch has a heat output on a par with red oak or maple.

Creosote is merely the byproduct of incomplete combustion. Burning green wood of any type with the combustion air inlet severely restricted will ultimately end up in excessive creosote.

The old man said that the old timers a hundred years ago would toss a tin can in the fire once a week to supposedly cause a catalytic action in the flue gasses to ensure any superficial creosote buildup within the week would be burnt up...Don't know if that is true, but that's what he always said.... He would never burn a fruitwood.

Now today's "tin" cans are everything BUT tin and I am not convinced tossing one in would do anything..

When we were in Finland I noticed all they had to burn was birch and evergreen. They do burn a lot of wood for heat but I never did ask my hosts if there were many chimney fires. I'll have to make a mental note to ask them the next time I see them. Jim